US Steps up Mideast Mediation Over Collapsing Ceasefire

The United States, the main broker of the Middle East peace process and the initiator of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire, has decided to step up its involvement in the Middle East crisis to shore up the shaky ceasefire.

US President George W. Bush decided Wednesday to send Secretary of State Colin Powell to the Middle East next week in a bid to try to stabilize the crumbling ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians and lay the ground for confidence-building measures to be adopted by both sides.

The U.S. announcement came following the decision by Israeli security cabinet on Wednesday to uphold the ceasefire despite continuing violence, especially in the wake of the killing of three Israeli settlers in the West Bank during the week-long truce period.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his government have been under mounting pressure from settlers and coalition hardliners to abandon the policy of restraint and strike back at Palestinians.

Israel has warned that its patience is wearing thin and cannot live with its policy of restraint much longer in the face of continuing Palestinian attacks.

Meanwhile, the Palestinians have been accusing Israel of failing to fulfill its part of the ceasefire obligations, terming Israeli lifting of closure on Palestinian areas as being "cosmetic."

In tense atmosphere following the killing of an Israeli settler by Palestinian gunmen and a Palestinian by the Israeli army during the day, Israeli and Palestinian security officials met again Wednesday night to discuss ways to implement the ceasefire, but ended with no results.

Israel had said that it would present a timetable for lifting the closure on the Palestinians at the security meeting but would not carry it out unless there is a total cessation of violence on the ground.

The Palestinians said that they would work to ensure a halt of attacks against Israeli targets only in areas under full Palestinian control, or Area A, and would continue to carry out attacks in areas not under full control.

The hurdle to a real ceasefire may be attributed to the gaps in Israeli and Palestinian stances on the ceasefire plan drawn up by U.S. Central Intelligence Agency chief George Tenet.

Israel stressed that there must be a total end of violence and incitement as well as rearrests of activists of Palestinian resistant movement of Hamas and Islamic Jihad (or Holy War) before implementing the recommendations of the Mitchell report.กก

The Palestinians have been calling for an international force of observers to monitor the ceasefire, a demand opposed by Israel. They also demand an Israeli freeze on settlement activity.

Israeli intelligence officer Amos Malka told the Knesset (parliament) Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday that Palestinian National Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat cannot accept the ceasefire unless there is a parallel diplomatic move, such as a timetable for a final-status agreement.

However, following the failure of the previous Israeli government headed by Ehud Barak to clinch a final-status agreement with the Palestinians, the current Sharon government would try all it can to avoid dealing with thorny final-status issues such as the status of Jerusalem, border, water resources, the future of Jewish settlements and the Palestinian refugees.

Boaz Ganor, Director of the Israeli International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism, described the Israelis and the Palestinians as being in a situation where Sharon can not offer Arafat more than what Barak offered him and Arafat cannot accept less than Barak's offer at the Taba talks in Egypt in January.

In face of the dilemma, some Israeli officials expect the United States and European Union to pressure Arafat to end violence and accept long-term interim agreements as envisaged by Sharon.

The United States and the EU so far have called for a ceasefire before any political moves take place. The U.N., however, supported Palestinians' call for immediate diplomatic negotiations following the full implementation of the Mitchell Committee recommendations.

The Mitchell report, released by an international panel led by former U.S. senator George Mitchell on causes of the Palestinian- Israeli violence, calls for an immediate ceasefire, a freeze on Jewish settlement activities and Palestinian curb on attacks against Israeli targets.

U.N. Special envoy to the Middle East Terje Larsen said on Thursday that he does not accept Israel's position calling for a cooling-off period and a complete cessation of violence before any renewal of diplomatic negotiations.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, in a phone conversation with Sharon Wednesday night, urged the Israeli leader to maintain the ceasefire and to begin discussing diplomatic measures with the Palestinians. Sharon, however, reiterated that he will not discuss diplomatic measures until the violence ceases.

In face of the crumbling ceasefire overshadowed by continuing Israeli-Palestinian clashes, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs William Burns is due back to the region on Thursday to pave the way for Powell's visit next week, after Sharon's trip to the United States.

Burns has been in the region twice in efforts to make Israel and the Palestinians accept the Mitchell report and work out a timetable for its implementation.

In view of the difficulty in implementing the ceasefire with parallel diplomatic moves, Powell, apart from his efforts to cement the ceasefire, is also expected to try to clarify both sides' positions on the confidence-building measures recommended by the Mitchell report.

Palestinian West Bank Security Chief Jibril Rajoub said on Thursday that the PNA would not arrest Hamas and Islamic Jihad activists as prescribed in the Tenet ceasefire plan and "now the ball is in the American court."






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